


Anything For You

by pinkevilbob



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fashion & Models, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dresses, Eating Disorders, F/M, Nott appears for like 4 lines, Warning: Trent Ikithon, he doesn't appear but his abuse does
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2021-02-16 02:57:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21500734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkevilbob/pseuds/pinkevilbob
Summary: Disaster strikes on the day of Jester's fashion show and it's up to Caleb to save the day.
Relationships: Jester Lavorre/Caleb Widogast
Comments: 19
Kudos: 66





	1. Chapter 1

Caleb arrived at the convention hall to find Jester on the verge of a panic attack. “Jester!” he called out running towards her.

“Caleb!” She quickly wiped her eyes and grinned at him. “The show starts in 15 minutes. Are you sure that you’re okay with this?”

“Ja, I’d do anything for you, Jester,” he said, meaning it.

Jester handed him a garment bag. “Okay, so you’ll have to get changed in the men’s room, but then you can come backstage and I’ll take care of all the last second details.” She pressed a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you again!”

Caleb’s world spun and his face grew hot. “Ja, you’re welcome. Anything for you Jester.”

“Now get going!”

Not needing to be told twice, Caleb ran to the bathroom and unzipped the bag in a stall. It held a beautiful gown purple with sparkles imitating the stars. There were splashes of pinks and blues and all sorts of clever stitching or at least Caleb guessed there was. He didn’t know much about fashion. All he knew was that Jester’s model was sick and the dress was just his size. Wiggling into it, he found it a little snug, but the cleavage wasn’t as bad as he was afraid it would be. The only problem was that he couldn’t zip it up all the way by himself. Caleb pulled on the matching gloves and ran out of the bathroom.

“Sorry it took so long,” Caleb said as he hurried over to Jester backstage.

“Oh, it’s fi-” Jester turned around and her jaw dropped. “Gorgeous.”

Caleb held up the sides of the dress. “Well, you did make it. When does the show start?”

“Less than ten minutes, but you know you really don’t have to do this, right?” Jester asked. “This is just some amatuer local fashion show. It’s not that important.”

“It’s important to you though,” Caleb said. “Can you zip me up?”

Jester stepped behind Caleb and clumsily zipped him up, brushing her hands against his back. “There you go! I’ve just a few places where I need to stitch you in. The bust isn’t as loose as I was afraid it would be.”

“You’re welcome?”

Jester giggled. “Right, I’m stitching you in and Nott’s going to do your makeup.”

Nott rushed in pulling up a stool and stood on it. “Now, I’m no miracle worker, so it’s a good thing you’re already pretty. Is simple okay, Jester?”

“Simple’s what we got time for,” Jester said through a mouthful of pins. “Now hold still, Caleb.”

Caleb did his best to pretend to be a mannequin so he wouldn’t get stabbed with pins or a mascara brush. The backstage was full of all sorts of hustle and bustle. Jester wasn’t the only one there needing to make last second alterations on her entry.

“There!” Jester said throwing up her hands. “Done!”

“Same here,” Nott said stepping back from Caleb. 

He looked at himself in the mirror. It was the barest hint of makeup with a touch of shine on his bottom lip. Nott had left down most of his hair down framing his face. With the dress, he actually did feel beautiful. “You two do amazing work. What are we doing for shoes?” Caleb asked.

Both Nott’s and Jester’s faces fell. “We forgot about shoes,” Jester whispered.

“We forgot the shoes!” Nott shrilled.

Tears began to well up in jester’s eyes. “I’m so sorry, Caleb. And you were so sweet to offer to model for me.”

“Nein, nein, it’s fine,” Caleb said. “I’ll just wear my normal shoes.”

Jester looked at his shoes with a look of horror and disgust. “Caleb, I’m sorry, but those deserve to be burned.”

He had to agree with her there.

“Do you think that there’s someone we can borrow shoes from here?” Nott asked.

“I’m a size 11 in men’s,” Caleb said. “That would take a miracle.”

Jester paced. “We’ve less than a minute. I’m just wasting everyone’s time.”

“Is there a rule against going barefooted?” Caleb asked. “We can claim that it’s a statement. About the something or other?”

“The ebb and flow of time?” Nott suggested. “That should work.”

Jester stared at Caleb. “Are you really willing to do this barefooted?”

“For you, Jester? I would walk across coals.”

Jester giggled. “I just need you to walk the catwalk.”

“Then I will.”

“Places everyone!” Someone called out. If Caleb thought that backstage was busy before, it was nothing in comparison to the chaos that erupted with that announcement. 

Jester led Caleb to the model line and found his place in line. All the other models and designers gave him odd looks since he was the only male model. “You know what to do, right?” Jester asked.

“Ja,” Caleb said with a confident smile. “This isn’t my first runway.”

“What?” Jester looked genuinely surprised. But then the show began and there was no more time to talk.

Caleb drew his shoulders back and kept his head up, staring straight ahead of him. Keeping his face neutral, he strode across the runway. Everyone stared at him, but for once, Caleb didn’t care. It wasn’t him they were seeing but the dress. Jester’s dress. And he was going to make sure that everyone in that room knew how beautiful it was. He stopped at the end of the runway hitting a pose showing off the silhouette of the dress. With one look over his bare shoulder, Caleb turned and went back down the runway. As soon as he got backstage, Caleb nearly double over catching his breath. He’d forgotten about the wave of anxiety after a walk down the runway.

Jester met up with him as quick as she could. “You were amazing!” She threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

“Ja, danke, I mean, you’re welcome,” Caleb said all too aware of where her lips touched his face. “I’m glad to help you.”

“I wish that there was some way I could pay you back,” Jester said. “I mean, normally I’d give my model the dress, but you probably wouldn’t want it.”

Caleb shook his head. “What do you mean? This is the most jaw-dropping dress I’ve ever seen. I’d be honored if you saw fit to give it to me, but please don’t think that you have to.”

Jester stared at him. “Really, you’d want my dress?” She honestly looked surprised and grinned uncontrollably.

“Ja, but on one condition,” Caleb said.

“And that is?”

Caleb grinned and gathered all his nerve. “Allow me to take you someplace truly worthy of it.”

Jester gasped and then smiled. “You got a deal.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't planning on writing a second chapter of this, but then dorcasdeadows asked me to, so I did.
> 
> Fair warning, this is a bit darker than the first chapter and the warning tags are all for this chapter.

"I know I said I'd take you someplace worthy of your gown, so I hope this isn't too big of a disappointment," Caleb said holding the door open for her to the cheap italian chain restaurant. He wanted to take her some place fancy, but it just wasn’t an option with his wallet. 

"No, this is so much fun," Jester said. She wore a pink cocktail dress decorated with lacy vines. Caleb could've sworn that one of the flowers was actually was a dick, but it was perfect for Jester. A green shawl was wrapped around her shoulders. "I've always wanted to do this sort of thing."

Caleb stared at her, but it was hard for him not to with how beautiful she was. "Really?"

Jester nodded. "Yeah, I mean this is the sort of place that people go to for prom and stuff, right? I've never really had the chance to do that sort of thing."

"Me neither," Caleb said entering the restaurant after her.

The hostess at the front desk raised an eyebrow at them, but she didn't say anything. "Table for two?"

"Ja, that's right," Caleb said.

"We'll get you seated in just a moment."

Jester grinned at Caleb. "This will be so much fun. But I thought that you did the whole high school sweetheart thing? Or are you the anti-prom type?'

"More like the drop out of school type," Caleb said. Most of his friends had a vague idea that he had dropped out and spent a few years in a mental hospital, but he wasn't sure how much Jester knew about it.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up," Jester said.

Caleb shook his head. "It's quite alright, I know that you didn't mean anything by it."

"I know but-"

"Your table's ready," the hostess said. "Follow me." She led them to a crowded room and put them at a table for two in the middle of it.

Caleb could feel everyone's stares on him. He kept having to remind himself that it was Jester's dress that they were staring at. It was even more beautiful off of the runway and deserved to be stared at. "Thank you."

Jester opened her menu and flipped through it. "Ummm, so..."

"Ja?" Caleb asked.

"Oh, nothing, just wondering." Jester bit her lip. "How come you're so good at modeling? You said that it wasn't your first runway."

Caleb sighed. He should've known that this question would be coming. "I was a model during high school."

"Really?" Jester leaned forward.

"Ja. And I was pretty good at it." It may have been bragging, but it was also true. 

“Why did you stop?”

The waiter interrupted them and took their orders before Caleb could answer which he was grateful for, but he knew he couldn’t put off the answer forever.

Caleb fiddled with his napkin once the waiter left. “I started modeling when I was 15. I, I was quite handsome back then, and my family, we needed the money. Ended up becoming the muse of a famous designer even.”

“Really?” Jester asked.

Caleb nodded. “Ja, Trent Ikithon.” Jester’s jaw dropped. “I’m guessing you’ve heard of him?”

“Heard of him? His 2002 Spring Collection was revolutionary.”

“So I’ve heard. Itchiest things I’ve ever had to wear.”

Jester stared at him. “But it must’ve been exciting to wear such fabulous fashion. It was all so cutting edge.”

Caleb shrugged. “It was a job. Not like your dress.” He waved down at what he was wearing. “Nothing I’ve ever worn compares to this.”

“But it’s just a dress. It’s nothing that fancy or new,” Jester said.

Caleb shook his head. “Don’t sell yourself so short. You have created something amazing in this.”

“You really think so?” She sounded surprised and uncertain, and it broke his heart to hear.

“I know so,” Caleb said. “I’d wear it over any of the ‘acclaimed’ collections.”

“So did you just get tired of it and quit then?” Jester asked.

Their waiter dropped off their drinks.

Caleb shook his head. “Nein. I kept working with Ikithon. It wasn’t my passion, but it would one day pay for college. So I kept doing it as I got older, but the image Ikithon had of me and the one my genetics had did not seem to see eye to eye.”

“What happened?” 

“I was put on a strict diet. A lot of the older models were careful about what they ate, so I didn’t think much of it. And I remained slender and my growth spurt stopped, so it must’ve been working,” Caleb said with a shrug. 

Jester went pale. “Caleb.” She reached for his hand, but he pulled it away.

“I was gaining fame and popularity, so life was good and Ikithon said that I was important for his work. Never really felt as special as I did back then.” Caleb paused. “Then I started getting sick. I started getting sick a lot. But I kept modeling and made sure to stick with Ikithon’s diet.”

“Didn’t your parents have something to say about it?” Jester asked.

Caleb shook his head. “They never knew. I thought that they didn’t understand how important modeling was and were old fashioned. So, I just hid it from them. My parents just thought that I was sick, so Ikithon offered to take me to a doctor. All they did was prescribe me weight loss pills.”

Jester was shaking. “You didn’t take them, did you?” 

“They were doctor’s orders and it was all part of the job. My health got worse. And that’s when, when.” Tears threatened to come out of his eyes, but he forced it down. “There was a fire. At my parents’ house. While they were asleep. The fire department said that they never woke up.”

“Oh, Caleb.”

The waiter came by with their soups.

Caleb tore up his bread stick into tiny pieces. “Ikithon became my legal guardian after that and then,” he shrugged, “I don’t remember much about the next few months. I dropped out of school and all I really did was model, sleep, and hang out with my girlfriend. And then I broke.”

“Broke?”

“I had to go to a psychiatric hospital. Stayed there for a long time. But I got better. Started eating again. Took me a long time, but eventually I got released.” It took him years to get back on his feet after that, but Jester didn’t need to know that. Or the fact that Caleb changed his name in order to keep Ikithon out of his life or that Ikithon still had all of Caleb’s modeling money. “Then I met Nott and that led me to meeting you.”

Jester sunk down in her chair. “I’m sorry.” Her voice was smaller than a mouse.

“Why?” Caleb asked.

“I made you model for me. It probably brought up a lot of bad memories,” Jester said staring down at her lap.

Caleb grabbed Jester’s hand. “Jester. I offered to help you. You didn’t even ask me to do it. I wanted to help you, and I did and it was fun.”

“It was?” Jester looked up.

He nodded. “Ja, it was. I got to wear something made by you and show the world what wonderful things you make. And … I wouldn’t mind doing it again. For you.”

“Really?” Jester asked leaning forward.

“I really like what you make. And you.”

Jester gasped. “You like me?”

Bashfully, Caleb nodded again. “Have for a long time.”

“I really like you too,” Jester said a blush spreading across her cheeks.

Caleb could feel a blush forming on his face as well. “Oh. Is it okay if we call this a date, then?”

“I’d like that.”

“Ja, me too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Look, we just want to see Caleb comfortable and happy in a dress. That's all.
> 
> Also thanks to dorcasdeadows for her help betaing this fic.


End file.
